Popular foreign exchange (forex) trader and social media personality Chavez 'Pajama Billionaire' Allen today wept openly in court after he was freed of breaches of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Act over the hosting of a raffle for a Mercedes-Benz motor vehicle.
Allen's attorney King's Counsel Peter Champagnie argued that the matter should be dismissed as a similar case that was brought against his client was dismissed.
In June, Allen was freed of breaching the act after representatives of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission failed to show up in court for the trial.
At that time, the attorney argued that the prosecution had continuously failed to have the main witness, the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission, present despite its valiant efforts.
As a result, the judge dismissed the case against Allen for want of prosecution.
Today in the Kingston and St Andrew Parish Court, Champagnie argued that the prosecution's case against Allen was an abuse of process given the previous dismissal.
He argued further that it would be unfair to proceed with the case because witnesses who could be called to testify for Allen have since migrated and one had died.
The judge upheld the submissions and freed Allen.
Allen was arrested following reports in November 2020 that the gaming and lotteries commission had received information that an illegal raffle was advertised by him on social media platforms where a Mercedes-Benz motor vehicle and cash prizes were being offered to the public.
The regulatory body conducted checks and its Licensing and Registration Division conducted an investigation to verify if the raffle had been granted approval.
The commission indicated that no approval was granted for the hosting of the raffle.
On November 15, 2020, more than 3,000 social media users tuned in to Allen's Instagram live session where the holder of ticket 183 was announced as the winner of a Mercedes-Benz CLA-250, valued at J$5 million.
But, Allen had later indicated that the competition, which started months earlier in June, was actually a private in-house raffle for students enrolled in his forex trading classes.
Raffle tickets were sold for US$50 each.
- Barbara Gayle
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2023-11-17 21:22:09Z
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